Clasp



(No Model.)

W. B. DR'APER.

CLASP.

No. 510,383. PatentedvDec. 5, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. DRAPER, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,333, dated December 5, 1893.

Application filed May 13, 1893. Serial No. 474.085. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. DRAPER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinven ted certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in a fasteningorlocking device designed particularly for use in connection with the clasps or cast offs of suspenders, but adapted for use in certain forms in other situations, such as glove fasteners and the like.

The invention consists of a two part clasp, the parts being adapted to overlap and having means to lock the parts together, thelocking means being positively operated to unlock or separate the parts.

In the drawingsz-Figure 1, represents one form of my invention adapted for use as a suspender clasp. Fig. 1 is a separate view of one part of the clasp. Fig. 1 isa vertical sectional View. Fig. 2, is a modification of the same as a glove fastener. Fig. 3, is asectional view of a modification the parts being separated, and Fig. 4, is aback view of the same. Fig. 5, is a faceview of another modification the two parts being separated.

In Fig. 1, the plate a is connected to the end of the suspender or carried in the loop thereof and to it is removably secured the cast off or lower part of the Suspender as shown at b. The plate a is provided with a depending part having a recess centrally thereof in its under face'forming a projecting boss a on its front face. -A locking bar 0 extends across from side to side of this recess, and forming a part of this bar is a loop or bail d which passes through openings in the plate a and over the top of the boss. The bail and bar are readily inserted in position by cutting one side of the convex part of the plate to the pivotal openings and through this slit or cut the bar is inserted after which the opening is closed up and soldered. The bar and bail however may be placed in position. in other ways. The locking bar 0 is made of fiat metal and is of greater width than its thickness. The other plate b to which the tab end of the suspender is connected is provided with a corresponding boss f, adapted to fit Within the recess of the plate a, and it is lockedtherein by the locking bar entering a slit or opening made across the center of the boss f of a sufficient width to receive the thin edge of the locking bar, but not the wide part thereof. Thus to engage the parts the bail must be brought to a position directly in front of the boss a of the plate a which brings the thin edge into line with the slit in the boss f and after the bar has passed through a quarter turn of the bail brings the flat or widepart of the bar in line with the slit and as it is wider than the slit it is obvious that the parts remain locked while in this position. The slit across the boss f has enlargements at the end to permit the turning of thelocking bar. Thebail is kept in locked position by a spring clip g engaging ashoulder on the lower face of the boss. When used as a glove fastener I substitute for the lower boss shown in Fig. 1 a post projecting from a flange or eyelet secured to the glove, and as shown in Fig. 2, this post has a slit across its end onlarged at its bottom as is the case with the boss f, of Fig. 1, and the bar a of the boss at registers therewith in precisely the same manner as before described.

In Figs. 3, and 4, I show a modification in which the plates 0. b have bosses pressed out of the same leaving corresponding recesses behind. The locking device in these figures differs from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In Figs. 3 and 4 the locking device is carried by the plate and is located in the recess thereof at the rear. It consists of a piece of wire having its ends i passing through perforations in the side walls of the boss, the metal of the wire being bentashort distance from the ends within the recess and these bent portions bear against the slightly inclined walls of the boss. The central loop of the wire serves as a handle which when pressed ontwardlydraws in the points '5 which are long enough to engage slots in the walls of the boss of the upper plate. When in normal position the ends 2' of the wire lock the bosses together by passing through the slots 7? and can be withdrawn to disengage the parts by pressing the loop of the wire outwardly. In this form the lock is entirely concealed.

In the modified form of Fig. 5, the boss in of the under plate has an open center while the locking device is in the form of a U shaped wire m having laterally extending ends passing through openings or slots in the wall of the boss or flanges. In this form the bail of the looking wire is upon the face of the plate instead of in rear, as in Figs. 3 and 4:, this position being permitted by slots extending through from the open center to the base of the boss as at 2. These slots are curved as shown and serve as guiding surfaces to draw in the projecting ends of the Wire to unlock the parts. The upper plate has its boss Zfitting over the boss 70, but is likewise provided with curved slots to permit the movement of the locking wire m to lock or unlock the parts.

The slots terminate in lateral recesses n, which receive the limbs of the wire m and by the spring action of the wire hold the bail (l in it's raised position until released.

I claim- A clasp consisting of two bosses,one fitting within the othera'nd a locking device carried by one of said parts consisting of a bail and locking means carried by said bail engaging the other part and adapted to be disengaged by the manipulation of said bail, substantially as described.

In testimonywhereof I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM B. DRAPER.

Witnesses:

W. H. WELcH, RODNEY LUND. 

